Happily Ever After
by katdemon1895
Summary: A series of one shots dealing with the wedding days of Potter characters, starting with two harmony weddings both inspired by Xelan, open to suggestions/requests for further chapters- now dealing with the marriage law idea!
1. Good News

I find myself prone to designing weddings, especially when they're mentioned in stories but not expanded upon. Xelan has done this in several stories. This particular celebration is the result of Xelan's "Good News" and has been acknowledged by Xelan as canon for his story. I own Miranda, her husband and Alice. Unfortunately, since I don't own Harry Potter, this wedding is not canon in the actual books. Ah well…

Please enjoy

=/\=

Dappled green and gold sunlight shone through the leaves of the ancient trees that sheltered the glade where a gathering was being held on the warm June day. A few of the ancient trees, the smaller ones whose topmost branches could be seen by the humans who gathered together, had been decorated with crème and blue ribbons. Wind chimes had been hung in the branches and fairy lights glowed gently, illuminating the shadows and gave the glade an ethereal feeling. To one side of the glade was an ancient stone arch, the purpose of which had been long forgotten. But for the day it had been decorated with twining vines of yellow roses, forget me not blooming at its base. A podium had been carefully placed before it and a tiny, ancient man stood at the podium, his remaining hair slicked back and a proud expression on his face. To his left stood a young man with a soft smile on his face and love shining in his eyes.

Several rows of chairs had been set up in the glade and they were filling fast. In the back, standing amidst the trees rather than joining the gathering, were centaurs, proud looking creatures who were half man and half horse. They watched with narrowed eyes, though one with silvery hair, had a mysterious smile on his face. Off to the side of the arch, slightly away from the podium and in front of the chairs, a keyboard had been set up. A man with sandy brown hair had begun to play soft music to entertain the gathering while they waited. A brunette woman in the early stages of pregnancy stood beside him and began to sing. Her strong, joyful voice filled the glade.

When at last it seemed as though everyone had arrived, the man began to play a different song and the woman began to sing a different song.

This change in song prompted a tiny pair, a little boy with blue hair and a little girl carrying a basket, to appear from somewhere in the deeper woods.

The tiny flower girl walked very carefully down the aisle, doing her best to keep in step with the younger boy beside her. She took two steps, made sure she hadn't trod on the hem of her blue dress by pulling it up and then shaking it out, checked that the equally small ring bearer beside her still hand the rings on the decorative pillow in his hands, and then took a fistful of yellow rose petals and forget-me-nots and threw them in the face of whoever was sitting closest to her. If her target wasn't looking at her then the girl would abandon her companion and tug on the person's sleeve to make sure she got them. Most of her victims tried to brush away the fragrant ammunition only to find that it was stuck fast to their faces and clothes. A few of the victims pulled out elegantly carved sticks, only for the person next to them to smack their arm and hiss something at them.

One couple who sat in the very back row of the rows of folding chairs, a fat man with a mustache like a walrus's and a woman who looked rather like a horse, had discovered that trying to wipe away the flowers from their clothes resulted in the petals and forget me not blossoms multiplying and covering them further.

Most of the audience, primarily the part that had not been plagued with inexplicably sticky flower petals or were close to the furious looking fat man and his wife, were snickering at the little girl's behavior. Her mother, the singer, tried not to falter in her duty though she looked caught between mortification and wanting to laugh and it occasionally showed in her voice. Her father, who played the music accompanying his wife, was openly grinning at his daughter's behavior, though if he laughed his singing wife jabbed him as subtly as she could manage so he refrained.

When the little pair finally made it to the altar where the groom waited, his green eyes glinting with humor and a smile on his face, the little boy handed the pillow to the smiling groom and then went to the audience and took a seat beside his grandmother and began to suck his thumb, his hair shifting from blue to butter yellow to emerald green and back to blue. The little girl threw the remnants of her basket at the diminutive man who presided over the gathering and at the groom before going to stand beside her mother who continued to sing, though her voice wavered as she apparently tried not to laugh. The flower girl took her mother's hand and like her companion, began to suck her thumb as she watched the proceedings with a fascinated expression.

For shortly after the tiny pair had begun their trek down the aisle, three more couples followed. The pairs were made up of three blonde women, each dressed in longer, more adult versions of the flower girl's blue dress, partnered with three men who all looked rather uncomfortable in their tuxedoes. The leading blonde wore a sash of bright, sunshine yellow around her slim waist, a sunflower in her hair and a pair of earrings that looked to have been made of bottle caps painted bright yellow. When she walked the tips of bright yellow shoes peeped out from under the hem of her skirt. The two who followed her wore more sedate, crème colored sashes and modest pearl earrings and crowns of tiny blue lilies of the Nile in their hair. Each of them carried small bouquets of yellow roses and forget-me-nots.

When they arrived at the end of the aisle they spilt, the men all going to stand beside the emerald eyed groom and the women standing opposite them. The leader of the men, a round faced man with an amused grin, took the pillow from the raven haired man.

"You ready Harry?" he asked.

Harry shot him a look as if to ask if he had been dropped on his head recently but before anyone spoke further the pianist changed the song once more.

The entire group stood as a young woman emerged from the trees, escorted by an older man with brown hair and a proud expression.

The woman had a proud lift to her head and her expression shone with happiness. She wore a beautiful white gown with small cap sleeves and a modest scoop neckline. The white material clung to her upper body before flaring out slightly at the hips to make a full skirt that swished softly as she walked. Faint silver embroidery and beadwork decorated the bodice and the hem of the magnificent gown as well as the modest train. Her rich brown hair had been tamed into an elegant twist decorated by a crown of lilies of the Nile and a long sheer veil with silver embroidery and bead work that echoed the pattern on her dress. Her free hand she held a bouquet of yellow roses intermixed with forget-me-nots and baby's breath. The one jarring note in her outfit were the radish earrings she chose to wear.

She and the green eyed groom caught each other's eyes and were lost. No one else in the world mattered to either of them at the moment, not her father escorting her or her mother in the audience, not the people in the audience, nor any of her friends who stood by them. For the moment, the man she was walking to was her world.

Slowly, gracefully the woman and her father walked down the aisle and when they reached the podium her father kissed the young woman on the cheek and went to sit beside an older looking version of the bride, her mother, who was trying in vain not to cry. The bride handed her bouquet to the sunflower bedecked maid of honor and turned to look at her husband to be. The congregation all sat down and the music ceased. The singer took a seat on the piano bench and the little flower girl sat in her own father's lap.

The diminutive man in the black robes cleared his throat.

"Ladies and gentlemen," he began, "I am Filius Flitwick and I have been given the honor of officiating. We have gathered here today to witness the union of two who have long been bonded together, whether they officially realized it or not, and now choose to present their joining before us all in the form of marriage."

There was a scattering of giggles among the people and the bride and groom both blushed slightly.

"Marriage is a serious institution that should not be entered into lightly," the man went on, "It is not something to be done and then undone for no reason beyond the idea that it was harder than expected. It is a representation of a man and a woman's decision to bear one another's burdens, to help one another along a mutual path. Marriage is a reminder of why you walk together, an expression of the love you feel towards one another. It will not always be easy. There will be sadness as well as joy, and you must support one another through the grief and sorrow. There will be pain – but pain shared is pain halved, as joy shared is joy doubled, and you each must sacrifice your own comfort to share the pain of the other."

The brunette in the audience gave up all pretenses and began to cry. Her husband smiled and put his arm around her, tears in his own eyes as well.

"You must not pledge yourselves thinking that all will be well from this moment on," Flitwick warned them, "You are two different people and a marriage is a partnership, not a situation where two become one. Two minds cannot fuse, two souls cannot merge, two hearts cannot keep to the same time, not even with the strongest of magics. If two are foolish enough to try this, one must overwhelm the other, and that is no love, nor is it compassion, nor responsibility."

Everyone remained silent, hanging on his every word.

"This particular branch of marriage is especially serious," Flitwick continued, "For once done, it _cannot_ be undone. There is no divorce in this case, no way to tear this bond apart."

"We understand," bride and groom said in unison.

"Alright," Flitwick nodded, "Then let us begin."

Flitwick brought out his wand and raised it as though he was a conductor about to lead an orchestra.

"Who gives permission for this woman to be wed to this man?" Flitwick called, looking out over the audience. Hermione's parents stood up, tears streaming down their faces and the pianist, the singer and their daughter stood to move beside them.

"I am Daniel Horatio Granger," her father said firmly, "Head of the Granger family. This is my sister, Miranda Emily Granger Cranston and this her daughter Alice Ophelia Cranston who shares the blood of the Granger family. This is my wife, Emma Helen Granger, mother of Hermione Jane Granger. Together, the Granger family gives leave for the daughter of our family, Hermione Jane Granger, to leave our family and be wed to Harry Potter."

With that they sat back down, smiles on their faces as they clung to each other.

"And who gives permission for this man to wed this woman?" Flitwick asked.

There was a sober moment before a tall, formidable woman stood, her normally stern expression softened by and old grief and a new joy.

"In the absence of his parents or any other guardian who is worth the name," the woman began, there was a sound of protest from the back but it was quickly silenced, "I, Minerva McGonagall, Headmistress of Hogwarts, give permission for this man to marry Hermione Granger."

"Very nice," Flitwick said with a small laugh, "And now, do you, Lord Harry James Potter, head of the Ancient and Noble House of Potter and Head of the Ancient and Noble House of Black, Head of the Ancient House of Slytherin by right of conquest, Head of the House of Gryffindor and Master of the House of Peverell by birth and conquest, Knight of the Realm of England,"

There were more strangled noises from the back of the crowd but once again they were quickly hushed.

"take this woman to be your wife?," Flitwick continued blithely, "Will you love her, comfort her, honor, and keep her, in sickness and in health; and forsaking all others, keep only unto her until time ends?"

"I will," Harry said firmly.

"And you, Hermione Jane Granger, first of the House of Granger" Flitwick turned slightly to look at the young bride, "Will you take this man as your husband? Will you love him, respect him, honor him and keep in sickness and in health, forsaking all others, keep only unto him until time ends?"

"I will," Hermione said brightly.

The charms professor waved his wand and for a moment Hermione was encased in a silver light while Harry shone gold.

"Now, who stands as champion to Hermione? And do you lead any with you?" Flitwick asked.

"I, Luna Lovegood," declared Luna from her place at Hermione's side, "Lady of the House of Lovegood, stand champion to Hermione, my sister-in-arms. I lead Lady Hannah Abbot-Longbottom, Lady of the House of Longbottom and Lady Fleur Delacour-Weasley, Lady of the Western Veela enclave and the House of Weasley, to stand beside me in defense of the bride."

"And who stand champion for Harry?" Flitwick pressed.

"I, Neville Longbottom," began Neville at Harry's side, "Lord of the House of Longbottom, stand as champion to my brother-in-arms. I lead Dudley Dursley of the House of Dursley, and Bill Weasley, heir of the House Weasley, in defense of the groom."

"I will not allow my son-" began the rose petal covered walrus man but this time those surrounding him were not as kind when it came to silencing him. The pair were carted out of the glade by a pair of goblins with very sharp looking swords and menacing grins.

"Thus, as witnessed by the light of silver and gold, there are no blood reasons why this wedding should not commence," Flitwick intoned, ignoring the proceedings in the back though the bride and groom both suddenly seemed to have an added gleam of satisfaction in their eyes.

"Does anyone care to challenge this union?" the diminutive mage asked, "Keep in mind that if you do, you must face their chosen champions."

The glade was completely still but Flitwick waited for another beat before continuing.

"Both the bride and groom have chosen to use their own vows," The charms professor announced.

With this Harry took one of the rings from the pillow that Neville now held and he turned to Hermione.

"I love you Hermione," Harry began, "You're my best friend. I fell in love with you for the qualities, abilities, and outlook on life that you have. I won't try to reshape you in a different image. I promise to give you the best of myself and to ask of you no more than you can give. I promise to respect you as a someone with your own interests, desires, and needs, and to realize that those are sometimes different, but no less important than my own. I promise to try to keep myself open to you, to try to share with you my innermost fears, feelings, secrets and dreams, though you might have to prod me into it. I promise to grow along with you and to be there for you. And finally, I promise to love you in good times and in bad, with all I have to give and all I feel inside in the only way I know how... completely and forever."

With that Harry placed the ring, a delicate creation of white gold crowned with a diamond flanked by a pair of sapphires, onto Hermione's ring finger. Hermione smiled brightly and then took the second ring from Neville.

"I love you Harry," Hermione said, "I've loved you for as long as I can remember. You're my best friend. Today I give myself to you in marriage. I promise to encourage and inspire you, to laugh with you, and to comfort you in times of sorrow and struggle. I promise to love you in good times and in bad, when life seems easy and when it seems hard, when our love is simple, and when it is an effort. I promise to cherish you, and to always hold you in highest regard. These things I give to you today, and all the days of our life and forever beyond that."

With that, Hermione placed the golden band around Harry's ring finger.

In a guttural language that no one, save the three older Granger women and Luna, understood, Flitwick waved his wand over the two. Once again there was a flash of light emanating from the pair though this time it merged and created a flare so bright that for a moment everyone was blind.

"As magic has bound, let no man dare to try to tear asunder," Flitwick declared when everyone could see again, "And now, by the power vested in me by ancient means, I now pronounce you husband and wife, you may kiss the bride!"

The two met in a kiss that cause Alice's parents to cover her eyes and Andromeda to do the same to Teddy. They received a few catcalls and a great amount of cheering before they were done.

Later, the guests of the wedding were all in the Great Hall of Hogwarts, waiting. At last Neville stood before them on the dais which set the professor's table apart from the rest.

"May I present," Neville began with a large grin on his face, "Lord Harry Potter and his wife, Lady Hermione Potter!"

With that, the recently wed pair entered through the doors of the great hall and everyone cheered.

For the rest of the day there were celebrations. Harry and Hermione danced with the bridesmaids and groomsmen and of course they danced together. Hermione danced with the pianist, her uncle, and with her father. Hermione's Aunt Miranda claimed a dance with Harry and walked him through a simple salsa dance, which he performed quite well. Shortly after their dance, the singer's daughter, little Alice, chose to follow her mother's example and tried to show Harry how to properly do the hokey pokey before she abandoned him in favor of sneaking sugar biscuits with Teddy.

A rather embarrassed Ginny caught the bouquet and Lee Jordan caught the garter when the two were tossed. They were good sports about it and shared several dances, though Lee had to be careful of the reactions of her brothers. He was a canary several times throughout the party, but somehow each of the attending Weasley brothers ended up a canary a time or two themselves.

The party lasted throughout the day and long into the night, ending only when Hermione's aunt and uncle had to take their sleepy daughter away and Andromeda had to do the same with a hyped up Teddy. Of course the bride and groom had long since disappeared, but no one expected them to stay the whole time.

When at last the day was over, Luna was the one to sum it all up with a smile, a sigh and one simple word.

"Finally."

=/\=

Originally the bridesmaids were supposed to protect the bride by serving as decoys in case of kidnapping, whether by bandit or evil spirit didn't matter, the bridesmaid was to protect the bride. The groomsmen were possibly there to keep the groom from running, at least that's my personal theory. I wanted to take it a step further and decide that if anyone objected, they bridesmaids and groomsmen would be a bit more proactive in protecting their charge, not that this couple needed it, but just in case

Harry and Hermione's vows were found on the internet, I'm afraid I don't remember the website I got them from, nor did I write it down as I should have


	2. Balancing Debts

This wedding is set in the story "Balancing Debts" by Xelan and has been approved by him and is considered canon in his story. I own Jen and Michael. Unfortunately, since I don't own Harry Potter, it's not considered canon in the actual books

=/\=

The day was overcast and the American pair were exceptionally tired from their long trip. Both wanted little more than to find someplace where they could get food, a hot shower and sleep in more or less than order.

At the same time, the female of the pair was trying very hard not to be the sort of tourist that made natives shake their heads or laugh. But with how eager she was to take pictures even with how tired she obviously was, she was failing. Her companion walked a few paces behind her, a smile on his face at her behavior.

Suddenly the woman paused, as if she had been shocked.

"Jen, what's wrong?" he asked.

"_That's Harry Potter_!" she hissed, gesturing subtly across the street. He glanced over and raised a brow as he caught sight of a scrawny kid with messy black hair and a brunette girl with equally wild brown hair. They looked like they were talking about something.

"I'm going to say hi," Jen declared but her boyfriend grabbed her arm before she could cross the street.

"Jen, I really doubt the kid wants to be bugged by a tourist wanting an autograph," he pointed out.

"Michael!" Jen snapped, sounding scandalized, "I wouldn't do that! I mean, it's not like he's Nathan Fillion or someone like that."

Her expression became softer.

"I just wanted to say thank you," she said, "My cousin was in England when the bastard was at the height of his power and if he wasn't stopped then Bridget probably wouldn't be alive."

Michael nodded and together the two crossed the street.

"Excuse me, Mr. Potter?" Jen asked and both of the two scowled at her. She thought she heard the brunette mutter something about fan girls and felt vaguely affronted. Michael though noted that the pair had instantly reached for their wands.

"I just wanted to say thank you," Jen said, "Thanks to you and your mother my cousin lived, so thank you."

Michael felt a little annoyed at the gob smacked expressions on the pairs' faces. Didn't they ever hear anyone say thank you?

He saw the two exchange glances and Jen smiled. For a moment the younger pair reminded her of her grandparents.

"Would you mind helping us with something?" the brunette girl asked.

"Probably," Michael answered for the American pair, "Depends on what it is. What's your name anyway?"

"Hermione Granger," the girl introduced herself, "And Harry and I want to get married."

"Congratulations!" Jen cheered, "I'm sure you'll be very happy together."

"Aren't you a little young to get married?" Michael asked, looking doubtful. Jen looked at the pair and did a bit of mental math. She was unconsciously a little shocked to realize that the two were probably at least three years younger than herself.

"No," Hermione said firmly, a frown on her face, "We're both of age. We're marrying here because of expediency. It's a bit dangerous right now so a more public wedding could get us killed and I'm _not_ waiting any longer."

"It's not like they're any younger than us when we first got together," Jen hissed to her boyfriend and he nodded and let the issue drop.

"There's a problem though," Harry said, speaking for the first time, "We need witnesses."

"Don't you have any friends?" Michael asked and Jen gasped and elbowed him.

"That was rude," Jen hissed to him. Hermione was glaring too while Harry looked contemplative.

"Sort of," Harry said at last, "At least I think we have friends, but most of them are trapped right now by the local dark lord and those that aren't, well, I'm not too sure they're really our friends."

"Wow," Jen said, "That sucks."

Michael shot his girlfriend a look. First she got onto him for being rude and now she was going to be that blunt?

She shrugged in return.

"So you need witnesses for your wedding?" Michael brought them back to the original topic.

"Yes," Hermione confirmed, "We have a time with the priest and we have the rings but we need at least two people, preferably magical, to act as witnesses."

"Oh!" Jen gasped, "Can I call myself your bridesmaid?"

Hermione looked at her with a bemused expression.

"If you like," she said with a shrug, "You can even be the maid of honor if you like."

Jen squealed with joy.

"Awesome!" she cheered, "But you said that you have a priest and rings, no dress? Or cake?"

The two British born wizards shook their heads. Jen smiled and pulled out her wand. Michael saw the way the two tensed and moved to reach for his own wand.

"Don't worry," Jen said with a laugh, "I may not be the fashion happy person my sister is but I know enough to play fairy godmother."

Together the four went into the small church that was unnoticed by muggle eyes.

Jen followed Hermione while Michael left with Harry.

"What's your name anyway?" Hermione asked while she dug through her bag and Jen saw her bring out a brush.

"I'm Jennifer, and the guy with Harry is my boyfriend, Michael," Jen answered and she took the brush from Hermione.

"Here, I'm your maid of honor, let me do my job," Jen insisted.

The room for the wedding was small, but then the original enchantments meant to hide it from well meaning, or not so well meaning, relatives or friends intent to stop an eloping couple, were only capable of hiding a small room. As spells improved, tradition had kept the owners of the building from expanding the room, even with magic. There were a pair of folding chairs in front of a small podium. Garlands of honeysuckle and roses decorated the room. But the overwhelming scents of the flowers was the last thing on the mind of the bride and groom.

Jen tried not to look too smug when she saw the look on Harry's face when Hermione first came into view.

She hadn't had much to work with when it came to clothes. All of the clothes Hermione had with her were dirty and worn and Jen had to admit that few of her things were much better. But together they'd pieces together the right sort of outfit to be the base of the dress the young witch now wore.

It was a rather modest gown with an empire waist, cap sleeves and a demure square neckline. The skirt of the white silk dress had been decorated with a layer of ivory lace. Hermione's hair had been gathered up and twisted into an elegant sort of style and she had chosen to forgo any sort of veil. Instead a crown of white roses decorated her wild brown locks. Under the edge of her floor length hem peeped a pair of blue satin pumps, borrowed from her maid of honor and enchanted to fit. She carried a small bouquet of conjured roses and lilies. The young bride was almost glowing with joy as she walked down the miniscule aisle towards her husband to be.

Her groom looked just as happy in his own transfigured finery, though Jen had to blink when she looked at him. While Hermione was only almost glowing, Harry really was! It was faint but there was definitely a glow around the young wizard.

"Ahem," the priest there to perform the ceremony cleared his throat and brought everyone's attention to himself.

"Now, we are gathered here today to join these two young people in holy matrimony," the priest began. Jen tried not to giggle.

"Normally I would have the pair of you go through at least one session of marriage counseling, in preparation for the seriousness of what you are about to do," the priest cautioned them, "but after reading your vows, I believe that you have the right idea."

Jen looked at Hermione but the bride said nothing, neither did her still gleaming groom.

"Now, let's get on with it," The priest went on, "Do you, Harry James Potter, take this woman to be your lawfully wedded wife? Will you love her, comfort her, honor, and keep her, in sickness and in health; and forsaking all others, keep only unto her until time ends?"

"I will," Harry said firmly. Jen bit her tongue to keep herself from cooing.

"And do you, Hermione Jane Granger, take this man to be your lawfully wedded husband?" the priest asked, "Will you love him, comfort him, honor, and keep him, in sickness and in health; and forsaking all others, keep only unto him until time ends?"

"Yes!" Hermione said proudly.

"You may now read your vows," the priest informed them, "Harry, you may begin."

Harry looked at Hermione squarely and took her hands in his.

"Hermione, I love you," Harry began, "I know that I've been a prat and I'm going to spend the rest of my life thanking everything good that you picked me anyway and I'll work on being the man that you deserve. I love you and I swear on my magic and my life that I want to be with you and only you for the rest of this life and all of the next and forever after that. I can only hope that whatever greater power is up there will let us stay together and if not then I will fight death if I have to in order to stay with you because I'm not going to any great reward until you're ready to be there by my side."

The glow around Harry increased and both Jen and Michael had to squint.

"Harry, I love you," Hermione began, "You're my best friend and I've loved you for as long as I can remember. I'm so happy that you chose me that I can't think of the words to express the magnitude of how I feel about it. I swear on my magic that I want to be with you and only you for the rest of this life and all of the next and forever after that. I swear that nothing, not even death will part my soul from yours, so mote it be."

Now Hermione really was glowing and for what felt like an eternity but was in reality only a moment, the whole room was filled with a bright white light.

"Then, through the power vested in me," the priest continued though Jen was fairly certain that he, like the rest of them, was still blinded from the light show, "I now pronounce you man and wife. You may kiss the bride."

The American girl couldn't really see what was going on but she whooped and cheered as if she could and heard Michael clapping for the pair.

After the ceremony they went to a nearby bistro and shared a cake. They talked for a little while, got to know each other a bit. Jen took their pictures before the conjured and transfigured finery returned to its less than glamorous natural state.

"It was nice meeting you," Jen said happily as they prepared to part.

"It was an honor," Michael agreed, "And thanks for letting us help out."

"Where are you going next?" Jen asked.

"To the goblins," Hermione replied, "We think they have something that might help us in our mission."

"That and Hermione deserves a decent honeymoon so I need to go to the bank," Harry added with a grin. Jen and Michael both laughed at how red Hermione's face suddenly became.

"Good luck," Michael said earnestly, "Though since things are apparently a lot worse than I realized I'm afraid that we're going to have to take the coward's way out and get my boss to let me cut this trip short."

The American pair saw the brief disgust and disappointment flash in the eyes of the other two and Michael frowned. Before he could say anything Jen broke in.

"I'm pregnant," she said bluntly and reveled in the surprise of the two.

"I'm a little over a month along and Michael and I want to get home to the states so we can be married with our families around us," Jen explained and smiled as Michael wrapped his arms around her, a hand splayed protectively over her abdomen.

"And we're not going to put our baby in danger," Michael added.

"I understand," Harry said and Jen smiled at the wistful expression on the faces of the newlywed.

"You'll be okay," Michael said firmly, "You'll beat this bastard and all the fools who don't think you should be together."

"Yeah," Jen chimed, "After all, if you don't then how can you invite us to your real wedding ceremony? The one where Hermione can be given away by her father and you have your true friends standing as the best man and maid of honor."

Hermione and Harry both smiled.

"Thank you," Harry said firmly.

With that, the two pairs separated.

Several months later, a heavily pregnant and slightly bored Jen received a letter via owl. She squeaked and almost fell over. When her husband arrived home he was both amused and slightly concerned by Jen's sudden fit of frenzy.

"Jen what the," he began but she shoved a letter in his face.

"Read," she demanded. Michael took the cream paper and read the golden script aloud.

Mr. Daniel Horatio Granger and Mrs. Emma Helen Granger

Request the honor of your presence

At the marriage of their daughter

Hermione Jane Granger

To

Lord Harry James Potter

On June 26th in the Great Hall of

Hogwarts at 10:00

Jen squealed again and Michael sighed but with a smile he went to check his calendar and tried to see if they could get the time off and if they could scrape together the money for a pair of tickets to England. They had another wedding to attend.

=/\=

And there you have it, the wedding scene for "Balancing Debts" and a little more beside. There is a strong possibility that I'll write Harry and Hermione's renewal of their vows and probably a very good chance that I'll create weddings for other characters too, if you have any suggestions or requests please feel free to tell me!


	3. crumple horned snorcacks

A Neville and Luna wedding, requested by alice-in-wonderland-22, I hope this is acceptable!

=/\=

It was an early morning, the sun had not yet risen over the wide lake where dozens of slender, delicate rowboats skimmed the placid water. Some of them were empty, and around their prows they bore signs such as _reserved for the Crumple Horned Snorkacks _or _Wimbly-mimsy's place_ as invisible forces brought them to their place on the lake. The rest all had two or three, or sometimes four, people all dressed in their very best and each person was holding something. All of them were going to a point where two similar In one, the smallest vessel of the lot, a formidable woman in green and black waited, an unusually soft smile on her normally implacable face. In another, parallel to the woman's boat, were two young men, one in black robes and the other in a burning red creation accented with sunshine yellow.

"You read for this mate?" asked the young man in red, his green eyes studying his more drably dressed companion. He smiled ruefully at the sight of how cool and confident the other young man was.

"Yeah," the second young man replied, "I've been looking forward to this for a long time Harry. I'm crazy about her and thank Merlin she's crazy enough to feel the same about me."

"She'd be crazy not to Nev," Harry said with a laugh, "And while Luna's not quite normal, she's not crazy."

"Thanks for being here Harry," Neville said with a laugh, "I know it was a bit tricky."

"Best thing about being a private detective in the muggle world Nev, magic can get a lot of the work done and leaves me with plenty of time to be the best man at my best mate's wedding," Harry said.

He would have said more, but as he had spoken, the last of the little crafts had taken its place and, as if it had been a signal, one person from each craft opened a tiny golden cage. From them sprung little motes of gold that shot through the air. As they gathered, music began to play, harps and flutes and strings, all joining together in a harmonious melody that filled everyone with hope and joy. The others in the boats each brought out round paper lanterns and touched them with their wands, causing them to glow. Then with a gently push, the lanterns took to the sky, casting their soft light across the still sunless sky and water. A few raised their wands and suddenly flowers of every sort imaginable began to float on the mist. An unusual wave of water rose up, breaking through the mist, and disturbed the calm boats, causing everyone's vessel to bob for a bit until the water settled.

While the little golden lights danced and spread music through the air, the entire group looked to the distant shore, though one man with silvering hair had to catch a young woman with pink hair to keep her from falling into the lake.

Across the way, still near the shore, was a group of three rowboats calmly moving towards the rest of the group.

In the first boat, just a little ahead of the rest, rode two men. One man, had bright red hair and wore equally bright yellow robes. His face was scarred but he was smiling, his eyes occasionally darting over to a young blonde woman in another boat, a tiny baby wrapped in blue laying in her lap. Every time he did, his eyes would catch hers and they would smile at each other and hold her baby closer, as though trying to hold the man through the child. Behind the red headed man sat a younger man, dark haired and dark skinned, and a bright grin would appear on his face every time he looked over at the boat parallel to the one he rode in. He wore dark red robes trimmed in butter yellow and he wore a necklace made of soda pop tabs and butterbeer caps.

In the boat parallel to the one with the two men, rode three women. One was a ghost and the other two were living women, one a brunette and one a red head. The ghostly woman stood proud at the head of the boat and ignored everyone around her, keeping her silver eyes trained ahead and her concentration on being able to carry a single red zinnia in her translucent hands.

The brunette wore a ruby red gown that seemed to almost glow like a burning ember. Golden lace trimmed the hem of the fiery dress and golden ribbons were woven through her brown locks which fought their confines. She carried a bouquet made of dwarf sunflowers, red chrysanthemums and zinnias.

The red head wore a dress that seemed to be made of every shade of yellow in existence, from the palest yellow white to the brightest, most vivid sunshine yellow imaginable and somehow it managed to blend perfectly. Her bright red hair was left lose and was crowned with a garland of blue periwinkles and dwarf sunflowers. She carried a bouquet made of bright orange wallflowers, more dwarf sunflowers and French honeysuckle. Occasionally she would glance to the side and smile at her darker counterpart and toyed with her radish earrings.

Behind the two groups, there was a final rowboat. It had been carved to look like a giant leaf and ivy had been twined around it and studded with violets, daisies, forget-me-nots, and orange blossoms. In this floating garden sat two people, one a tall man with long blonde hair and a distant look in his eyes. The other was a young woman who held her head high, her silvery blue eyes sparkling with joy. Her long blonde hair had been left loose, only a crown of red and white roses holding it back. She wore an elegant white velvet and satin gown that looked as though it had come straight from the days of Camelot. Silver embroidered vines of ivy twined around her slender waist and around the hems of the bell sleeves and wide skirt and the modest scoop neckline. Like her ghostly maid of honor, the woman kept her sight trained ahead, her gaze never wavering from the young man she was to marry.

Unlike the other crafts which glided along the mirror like lake without visible assistance, merpeople from below rose up and grasped little handles which had been hidden by the ivy and they began to push the bride along the watery path, their tridents gleaming in the soft glowing light of the lanterns and musical golden motes. They moved her swiftly behind the bridesmaids and groomsmen until in an easy movement the bridesmaids were floating across the way from their male counterparts and Luna vessel was so close to Neville's that if she wished she could have grasped his hand and jumped across to him. As it was, her father beside her wrapped his little girl in his arms.

"I love you Luna," he managed to say, his voice wavering slightly. He kissed his daughter on her forehead and then managed to stand and jump from her boat into one nearby. The sole person in the boat, a formidable elderly woman wearing a green dress and a hat decorated with a large stuffed vulture, grabbed his arm to steady the Lovegood man as he tried to take a seat beside her. Once he was gone, the merpeople retreated to below the surface of the water.

Luna and Neville reached out and grasped each other's hands and both smiled softly to each other. Luna's sleeves trailed into the water but neither of them cared. They were too enthralled in each other.

"Ahem," Headmistress McGonagall cleared her throat and easily grasped everyone's attention, "Welcome everyone to this momentous occasion."

There was another ripple beneath the water and another wave caused every boat to bob and jostle against each other.

"Marriage is something sacred," Headmistress McGonagall announced, "It is a ritual that binds two people together and it is not a bond that should be entered into lightly. It is not the sort of bond that can or should be broken with just a few words and signatures on paper. And it is not the sort of bond that can really be created in one day. It is a bond that must be worked upon every single day for the rest of your lives together."

There were some sighs in the audience and Harry shot a grin at the only brunette bridesmaid while smiled shyly in return.

"It is only by working together, by sharing each other's burdens and reach out to one another that you will be able to thrive," Headmistress McGonagall said firmly, "But you must keep in mind that though you will be walking the same path from now on, you will still be two separate people with separate thoughts, separate points of views. Marriage is a partnership. Do you understand this?"

"Yes," Luna and Neville answered.

"Very good," McGonagall smiled faintly, "And now I must ask, Lord Neville Longbottom, head of the Longbottom family, for what reasons do you wish to be bound to this woman?"

"I love this woman," Neville announced to the audience, "I love the way she throws herself whole heartedly into anything she believes in and how unshakeable that belief can be. I love how kind she is and I love how she's always willing to help those she cares about. I love her bravery, her strength and her open mind. I love all of the thousand little things that she does without thinking about them. I want nothing more than to spend the rest of my lifetime and time beyond that with her."

Headmistress McGonagall's smile became wider and she raised her wand to conjure a length of red cord. After Neville's declaration, she looped one end of the cord around Neville's wrist.

"And you?" Headmistress McGonagall looked at the bride, "Miss Luna Lovegood, only daughter of the line of Lovegood, for what reason would you bind yourself to this man?"

"I love this man," Luna said simply, "I love his loyalty, his kindness, his bravery and his strength. I love the way that I can be myself around him without fear of censor or ridicule. And I love that he loves me as much as I love him. There is nothing in the world that could make me happier than to be married to this man and to spend all of my life and beyond with him."

As Luna spoke, the sun finally began to rise above the hills, framing the couple in light. Several people in the audience were openly crying and Lady Longbottom's eyes were glistening in a very particular manner. Xenophilius had no reason to hide his emotions. Though he was smiling, tears ran down his face as Minerva McGonagall looped the other end of the red cord around Luna's wrist. She stopped just short of tying the two ends together.

"And who stands to bless this bond?" she demanded of the audience. Slowly, carefully, Lady Longbottom stood in her little rowboat. Xenophilius rose to stand as well, though not nearly as carefully. A few gasped as it seemed that the Lovegood man would cause the boat to tip over but from the depths of the water came a large tentacle from the giant squid, which reached out and steadied the little craft.

"I, Lady Augusta Longbottom," began the formidable woman, as steady if she'd never been in any danger of falling in the lake, "Matriarch of the Longbottom line, do hereby give my blessing _and_ my support to this union. I also willingly bestow upon Miss Lovegood, the title of Lady Longbottom and do also announce my support in nominating the Lovegood line as a new noble line."

Gasps and whispers began to run through the crowd like a forest fire but Headmistress McGonagall only had to clear her throat to regain control and peace among the crowd.

"And I," began Luna's father, "Xenophilius Lovegood, head of the line of Lovegood, go willingly bestow my blessing upon this union. And I thank Matriarch Longbottom for her support."

"And who would stand in defense of this pair?" Headmistress McGonagall asked. The ghostly bridesmaid floated above the water.

"I, Lady Helena Ravenclaw," the ghostly woman announced, "Daughter of Rowena Ravenclaw, heart sister of Luna Lovegood, lead Miss Hermione Granger, first of the Line of Granger and Miss Ginerva Weasley, daughter of the house of Weasley, to stand in defense of Miss Lovegood and her union."

If Lady Longbottom's announcement had begun a forest fire, Helena's claiming of Luna as sister created an inferno of excited whispering. Headmistress McGonagall tried to regain the attention of the crowd several times before she gave up and instead gestured to Harry.

"I, Harry Potter," Harry began and grimaced as his name caused the audience to calm, "head of the Ancient and Noble House of Potter and Head of the Ancient and Noble House of Black, Head of the Ancient House of Slytherin by right of conquest, Head of the House of Gryffindor and Master of the House of Peverell by birth and conquest, Knight of the Realm of England, lead William Weasley, eldest son of the House of Weasley and Dean Thomas, first of the line of Thomas, in defense of Lord Longbottom and his union. I also announce my support in the nomination of the line of Lovegood to the realm of the noble pureblood houses."

"Are there any who are willing to challenge this union?" Headmistress McGonagall asked dryly. The entire crowd was silent. Everyone knew that to even whisper could be taken as an intent to challenge the union and they would have to stand against the bridesmaids and groomsmen. No one thought much of their chances in that situation.

"The rings?" McGonagall asked. As she did, another tentacle arose from the water and upon it rested a little box.

"Thank you Goddy," Luna said as she opened the box and took its contents, a pair of rings. The tentacle patted her on her head before retreating back into the water, taking the box with it. Neville reached out and took one ring from Luna.

"With this ring, I pledge to you myself," Luna said and she reached out and took Neville's left hand and placed upon his finger a golden band decorated by a braid of silver. The red cord about their wrists began to glow.

"With this ring," Neville repeated, "I pledge myself to you." He took Luna's left hand and placed on her finger a delicate silver band crowned with a pearl flanked by a pair of diamonds. The cord's glow began to intensify.

Headmistress McGonagall reached out and now finished tying the ends of the cord together, chanting as she did so. The glowing began to become brighter and brighter until at last McGonagall's chant was finished. There was a flash of light and the cord was gone.

"The marriage is accepted, "Headmistress McGonagall announced, "I now present to you, Lord Neville Longbottom and his wife, Lady Luna Longbottom!"

Cheers arose through the crowds and a number of people finally tipped over and splashed down into the lake.

Eventually everyone made it back to the shore and drying charms were applied. They danced and they ate and the celebrated for the rest of the day. Fred and George introduced a new line of fireworks that were as brilliant in the sunlight as normal fireworks were during the dead of night. Laugher and music rang through the air. Certain young ladies allowed themselves to be persuaded by certain young men to rendezvous later. The children took turns throwing food to the giant squid, though a few of them played in the shallows of the lake and attempted to mimic the screechings of the merpeople who watched over them. And if Neville and Luna happened to disappear from the crowd while everyone was distracted by Dean Thomas running from the Weasley men after being caught kissing young Miss Ginny Weasley, well, no one really expected the newlyweds to stay the entire time anyway.

=/\=

I've been rather caught up in flower symbolism. Red chrysanthemums mean "I love", dwarf sunflowers are for adoration, ivy is marriage, daisies are innocence, red and white roses together are unity, as a crown they're a reward of virtue, orange blossoms are for marriage, zinnias mean "thoughts of absent friends", blue periwinkles represent early friendship, French honeysuckle symbolizes generosity and devotion and forget-me-nots are both a reminder not to forget and a symbol of devoted love. Red and gold because to me, Luna's a true Gryffindor at heart and Gryffindors were generally nicer to her than Ravenclaws were. Yellow for luck.

McGonagall is presiding over the wedding in part because Luna can't do anything normally and mostly I figured that the headmaster, or headmistress, would have the authority to marry a couple, if only because there have undoubtedly been some wand point weddings in Hogwarts history and the head of the school having the authority to conduct them would be convenient and more discreet than dragging someone from the ministry or wherever to the school every time it was necessary. It was almost Sprout. Of course I imagine the wand point weddings wouldn't be nearly this elaborate.

And alice-in-wonderland22, I hope that you enjoyed the story!


	4. Cake!

I was going through some old books I used to love as a child and came across one where the main character, Karen Brewster, married her "boyfriend". The idea was too cute not to write this though I'm not entirely happy with the way it went. Keep in mind that this is AU and I don't own Harry Potter.

-/\-

Lily Potter bit her lip to keep herself from squealing at the cuteness in front of her. She tried to restrain herself instead to taking lots of pictures. James would love this and Sirius and Remus were going to get a kick out of it!

The it in question was apparently a "game" that her darling little boy, Harry Potter, was playing with his younger sister Rosalind, as well as Neville Longbottom, the four youngest Weasley children, Luna Lovegood, and the girl from next door, Hermione Granger, and the boys from down the street, Danny and Alex Puckle and another muggle born girl, Sally-Anne Perks. The majority of them were three years old, though Hermione was always pointing out that she was _almost_ four and the Weasley twins six while little Rosalind, Ginny and Luna were all about two. Alex was the youngest at a year and a half.

All were part of a magical playgroup that Lily was coordinating and she was still working on petitioning the Ministry to allow muggle born families to be informed sooner, preferably upon the child's first instance of accidental magic, and then to be given contact information for other muggle families with magical children. She knew that she couldn't present the petition just yet, it was too dangerous, but one day.

Until then, it was perfectly legal for her to inform any muggle families with magical children that their children were magic. It was perfectly legal for those families to let her baby sit their children and teach them the very basics of controlling their magic. It was also a good way for all the children to make friends before potential house differences could split them up. That their muggle neighbors had three magical children had been a stroke of luck both for Harry in terms of the number of potential friends and for the parents who could still be targets of the death eaters that James was still trying to put away. It was also lucky in that it allowed Lily to gloat slightly to her husband since she'd chosen their new home after Voldemort had destroyed their last house in the battle that had led to his permanent defeat.

But all of those memories were secondary to what was being played out before her. Apparently Sally-Anne had recently attended her aunt's wedding and the bubbly little girl had cajoled her playmates into "playing" wedding.

Little Rosalind, Ginny and Luna were all very solemnly holding bouquets of flowers from her garden. Many of Ginny's flowers still had their roots and dirt was now clinging to the little girl's dress. Sally-Anne had charged Ron with making sure that none of them ate the flowers and Ron was doing an admirable job. Lily subtly charmed the flowers, just in case, so the girls would have no interest in eating them anyway.

Neville had apparently been charged with being the minister. Lily saw that he was trying to keep hold of a dictionary and he looked very nervous. Sally-Anne stood just behind him. She wasn't entirely sure what the twins were up to but she kept a close eye on them. Danny and Alex were apparently the groomsmen and both looked extremely bored.

The groom was none other than her own son, who looked extremely uncomfortable with Hermione's hair ribbon tied in a bow around his neck.

And then came the bride herself, Hermione Granger, with a toilet paper veil and a bunch of the paper flowers that the girls had made during craft time. Her face was bright red as Sally-Anne came around and marched her down the aisle to Harry.

"Okay Neville!" Sally-Anne chirped, "start!"

"Um," Neville said softly, "What do I say?"

"Can't we just go play ball?" Ron whined and Hermione shot a glare at him.

"No!" Sally-Anne declared, "This is Harry and Hermione's wedding! You're supposed to be nice while Neville announces 'em man and wife!"

"But Harry doesn't wanna marry Hermione, do ya Harry?" Danny protested from his position as the camera man. Sally-Anne had produced a toy camera and had given it to the boy with strict orders to record everything.

"Erm," Harry started and his own face turned red and he couldn't look at Hermione.

"LOOK," Sally-Anne shouted, "We're playin' wedding, Harry and Hermione are getting married and then we can go and do whatever stupid game you boys want! But not until after the wedding cake!"

The children all perked up and Lily rolled her eyes, took another picture and then made a gesture.

"Yes Missy Lily," asked the little house elf that popped up immediately at the signal.

"Buttons, please prepare some cake for after the wedding," Lily whispered, one eye still on the little wedding that was again getting underway. Cake apparently made all the difference in cooperation.

"Of course Missy Lily," Buttons said happily and popped away before Lily could say another word.

"Fine," Danny sneered, "But only if there's cake!"

"You didn't say there was cake at weddings," Harry mentioned to Sally-Anne. Lily smiled as she noted that her son still wouldn't look at Hermione.

"Of course there's cake at weddings," Hermione broke in, "Mama has pictures of her wedding cake. It was really pretty with white frosting and little dolls on top."

"Okay! On with the wedding!" The Weasley twins chorused.

"Neville, come on!" Fred, or perhaps George, demanded of the small boy.

"But I don't know what to say!" Neville protested. Sally-Anne and Hermione both rolled their eyes.

"Say, Harry, do you want to be married to Hermione," Sally-Anne demanded.

"Harry, do you want to marry Hermione?" Neville asked and the blush that had faded returned full force upon Harry's pale skin. Everyone looked at the red faced boy.

"You do wanna marry me, don't you Harry?" Hermione asked.

"YES!" Harry blurted out at last and groaned, covering his face with his hands, embarrassed by his outburst.

"And Hermione, you want to marry Harry?" Neville asked without coaching from Sally-Anne.

"Yes," Hermione said primly, "Harry's the nicest boy ever and he doesn't have cooties like Ron and Danny."

"I do not have cooties!" Ron protested.

"Yeah! Neither do I!" Danny said. Hermione sniffed and held her head high.

"Come on," Harry interjected, "the sooner we get through with the wedding, the sooner we get cake."

There was some more grumbling but the two offended boys quieted down.

"Okay Neville," Sally-Anne said, "Now announce 'em man and wife!"

"I announce you man and wife," Neville repeated obligingly.

"And now you gotta kiss!" Sally-Anne cackled. Harry and Hermione immediately backed away from each other.

"No one said we had to kiss!" Hermione protested with a squeak.

"Come on!" Sally-Anne whined, "That's what the bride and groom do! The guy says they're man and wife and then says that the groom can kiss the bride! Harry's the groom and you're the bride so you gotta kiss!"

"But Hermione's a girl," Harry protested and Lily covered her mouth to keep herself from laughing. James was going to _love_ this memory.

"But Neville announced you man and wife! You hafta kiss or no cake!" Sally-Anne snapped.

Lily knew that the demanding muggle born would win with that simple statement. Hermione's parents rarely allowed her any sort of sweet and the young girl loved cake. Harry had inherited her sweet tooth. When it came to cake, the three and almost four year old had no defense.

The two looked at each other and Harry took the lead. With a sigh the boy took a step closer to her and then leaned over, his eyes screwed shut and his lips puckered. Hermione made a face but then she took screwed her eyes shut and with a mild squeak of protest, her own puckered lips met Harry's.

There was a flash of light and Alex and Rosalind both began to cry as it blinded the pair of them. Lily blinked, trying to regain her vision quickly as she moved for the babies.

"Perfect!" Sally-Anne crowed, "There was even crying just like with Aunt Melissa's wedding!"

"Cake!" Harry demanded belligerently, again stepping away from Hermione, though not quite as far as he had the first time. Hermione huffed a bit but she nodded.

"We should go get the cake!" the bushy haired brunette agreed.

"It should be ready soon enough," Lily informed the children who promptly began to whine at the lack of immediate cake.

"Why don't you all play ball until the cake is done?" Lily suggested and immediately easily distracted Danny took the idea and ran with it.

Lily brought the youngest inside, it was almost nap time, while the others ran around the yard, yelling and chasing after the ball that she'd long ago enchanted. The children divided into teams, some on the bride's side and some on the groom's, and the two teams chased after the ball. It would dash about the yard, changing color according to the team member who tagged it. Today the two teams had declared the colors to be Harry and Hermione's apparent wedding colors of red and blue. It would stop whenever the children began to flag. The winning team would be judged by whichever color the ball was at the end of the game. It kept them from fighting over whoever would be it in a game of tag and all of the children enjoyed it.

By the time the game was finished, with Harry's team as the winner much to Hermione's dismay, the cake was finished. The children tumbled into the house, eager for the sweet confection. Harry and Hermione trailed behind the larger group, holding hands. A bright smile was on Hermione's face, despite her defeat, and a smaller smile graced Harry's pink face. Buttons had decorated it with all sorts of fruits so Lily could argue that the children had gotten something healthy and it had been spiked with a potion that would provide proper nutrients to the children so they wouldn't be filled up with just sugar and air. To satisfy Sally-Anne and Hermione, tiny, dolly versions of Harry and Hermione stood on the center of the cake amidst the strawberries, blueberries and other fruits. Everyone later agreed that it was a very good cake and a worthy reward for any trial, even kissing.

Years later, Lily would ensure that the same cake, sans the potion, would be served at her son's second wedding to Hermione Granger.

-/\-

Hope you enjoyed it!


	5. Third time's the charm

I'm well aware of what inspired this- I don't own anything you recognized and that includes Harry Potter

-/\-

Hermione Granger was _pissed_.

Today was supposed to be her wedding day. It was supposed finally be the day that she became Mrs. Hermione Jane Potter.

But nooooo…

For some goddamned reason, every time she and her would be husband had completed the arrangements to their wedding and actually made it to the day they would be joined, it was as though instead they'd sent out a challenge to every wannabe dark lord saying "come kill The-Man-With-Too-Many-Damned-Hyphenated-Names and His Fiancée and make your reputation as the New Dark Lord and Master of Evil!".

The first time she'd not even been able to make it up the aisle before some idiot had led his minions in an attack against the golden couple of wizarding England. The train of her dress had caught on fire, half her skirt destroyed and her veil had been lost when she'd used it to garrote a particularly irritating man who'd attacked her while claiming to be the successor of Fenrir Greyback. Never mind that the fool apparently didn't even have lycanthropy. Shortly after her victory she and the girl who'd been watching her back, her maid of honor Luna Lovegood, had both been hit by the debris that had resulted from a rather powerful blasting hex aimed at the ground. She'd been knocked to the ground and half blinded by the blood that had resulted from a head wound and her arm had been broken while Luna had received a grade two concussion and several fractured ribs. Harry and Neville had quickly noticed this.

Only one of the attackers was still alive and, six months later, he would still be in a coma.

The second time she and her beloved fiancé had attempted to get married, after she was healed and all the paperwork from the last fiasco cleared up, they'd arranged for a quieter affair. It was just them, her parents, Teddy Lupin, and Neville and Luna as the best man and maid of honor respectively. Dennis Creevey had gotten licensed just so he could perform the ceremony and make it legal in both magical and muggle circles and the two of them had known that the Creevey boy would never betray them. And then another group of "dark" wizards who'd taken insult to the fact that the Lord Potter was going to further "sully" the Potter line by taking a muggle born bride, had decided to interrupt. She and Luna had not even been in the room when the idiots had decided to try to forcefully persuade Harry that he should marry a pureblood girl instead. But the two of them had joined in the fray very quickly.

Afterwards they'd discovered that some idiot had managed to tag the paperwork that Dennis had brought for them to fill out after the ceremony with a tracking charm. Poor Dennis was horribly embarrassed and apologetic. Hermione's wedding dress had again been destroyed and her father had been the one that time to get a concussion. Then they'd ended up having to deal with the aurors for not only the rest of their would be wedding day, but also the entire time they'd set aside for their honeymoon.

Luna later found out that the idiot who'd tagged the paperwork had been stabbed through the heart by her stiletto heel. The maid of honor had been particularly irritated by this discovery, those had been new shoes. Harry believed that the idiot had gotten off lucky. Her father, who'd eaten popcorn as he watched the attackers running around with their robes on fire from his position behind Dennis's shields, had agreed. Her mother, who'd played with Teddy and shielded him from the sight of such violence as Dennis did his very best to protect her, her husband and her god-grandson, had later given Harry a few suggestions for what he could do to anyone else who objected to her baby girl's wedding. Somehow the suggestions had made the round through dark wizard gossip and Hermione discovered her parents, on the strength of her mother's suggestion and their standing as dentists, were inducted as honorary members of the League of Dark Wizards. This had given Harry hope that they would be able to get married without any interference. After all, it was very bad form to attack the wedding of a league member's daughter.

Hermione had actually been rather reluctant to try again, despite the potential protection of the Dark League. She'd argued with Harry that she was perfectly happy with her relationship with Harry whether it was sanctioned by the government or by God or not at all. She loved him, he loved her, they didn't need a bit of paper and a bunch of pictures of her in a white dress to confirm that. But Harry had insisted. He loved her and wanted to show the world, wanted her to have his name. She'd immediately melted.

This was the third attempt.

They had been very careful not to give any sort of hint that it was going to be a wedding. Instead, she and Harry had booked a cruise under the guise of just taking a vacation. Her parents had flown to Lisbon and met up with the ship there before it went out into international waters. Neville and Luna had portkeyed onto the ship just an hour before the ceremony was to take place. Neville would be handling the magical portion of the ceremony while the ship's captain was supposed to marry them. She hadn't even packed a real wedding dress. She'd just transfigured a sundress into an appropriate gown. Luna had conjured the flowers. They'd taken every possible precaution.

"This will be okay, right Luna?" Hermione had asked the spacey blonde before the ceremony. Luna stopped her adjustment of the veil (which had formerly been Luna's handkerchief) and looked at Hermione with a serious expression.

"The hethioplats will not ruin this day," Luna said firmly, "Even if I have to ruin another pair of shoes by scuffing them as I kick Murphy in the head."

It had been enough to make Hermione laugh and the girls had completed their preparations before the ceremony.

Even though the skies were a little overcast, everything had been so perfect. Her parents were there, Teddy and Andromeda were there. And she was going to marry the love of her life. She'd actually made it to the altar and stood by Harry's side.

But apparently the ship had tripped over ancient wards or some such nonsense and that had released a ship filled with _zombie pirates_ of all things, zombie pirates and some sort of group of strange half crustacean monsters. And what else would pirates do but attempt to loot the first ship that they came across?

So, a very frustrated Hermione found herself once again battling while in her wedding dress. Luna had quickly herded the muggles below deck and was keeping the zombies from getting to the poor, frightened and confused people. Only a handful, other magical like herself and most of the wedding party, as well as the captain who was apparently a squib, had remained above deck to battle the abominations. Her parents had been rushed below, Teddy in her mother's arms. The captain somehow had a number of swords, one of which Hermione had gleefully grabbed and now used with joyful abandon to hack and slash her way through the zombies when she wasn't using one spell or another on them. Her dress was going to be ruined _again._

The very though made her snarl as she destroyed the latest interruptions to her wedding. Out of the corner of her eye she noticed that her beloved had finally gotten that fire whip of his to work. It wasn't quite as impressive as she remembered him describing, but she figured that he'd scaled it back since setting the enemy on fire this time might have caused more problems than it would solve.

"This is ridiculous," Harry growled and she nearly jumped as she realized that they'd worked themselves into back to back position.

As if his words had been the cue, the skies suddenly opened up and rain began to pour down over them and the sea began to rage.

"SERIOUSLY!" Hermione screamed though her cry was lost in the wind as it began to toss the waters, creating massive waves which began to twist and bob and toss the boat as if it was a toy.

"Oh for crying out loud!" Harry snapped and as he and Hermione guarded each other and battled the various attackers, he looked about. But, first thing was first.

"Hermione, will you marry me?" he asked the bushy haired woman he loved and luckily the winds were not so loud that you could not hear the person next to you.

"Harry James Potter," Hermione snarled as she blasted apart the creature that had thought to stab her Harry, "what kind of ridiculous question is that? Of course I want to marry you!"

"Good," Harry smiled and as Hermione ducked he beheaded the zombie that attacked them. The Man-Who-Conquered looked across the battlefield and finally, he caught sight of the person he needed.

"CAPTAIN RUSH!" Harry yelled, using magic so he could be heard over the sudden storm.

"WHAT?" the tougher than he seemed squib bellowed in return.

"KEEP GOING WITH THE CEREMONY!" Harry roared.

"ARE YOU SERIOUS?" the Captain demanded.

"YES!" Hermione screamed before Harry could make his favorite pun. The groom pouted for a second as he kicked a zombie through the chest. His leg was briefly caught in the zombie's torso but Hermione quickly set him to rights.

"FINE!" the captain shouted, "DEARLY BELOVED, WE ARE GATHERED HERE TODAY,"

Captain Rush paused in order to duck, causing a crustacean creature and a zombie to attack each other.

"TO WITNESS THE JOINING OF THIS MAN TO THIS WOMAN," the captain continued, almost unperturbed, "PLEASE SPEAK YOUR VOWS."

"Hermione Jane Granger," Harry said proudly as he fought, "will you take me as your husband, to have and to hold, whether we're quarreling over stupid things like how I should cut down on my sugar intake or whether we're fighting dark idiots or when we manage to have a normal moment, beyond death, from now until forever?"

Hermione, on her half, was quite impressed with the way Harry had managed to defend himself as the attack continued. Though, if she wasn't mistaken, the minion army seemed to be thinning somewhat.

"I do!" the bride declared eagerly.

"WITNESSED," Luna shouted before conjuring a set of knives and banishing them to hit a crustacean that nearly dismembered Neville.

"Harry James Potter," Hermione said, was it her imagination or did the wind seem to be calming?, "Do you take me to be your wife."

She quickly raised a shield over herself and just missed the sword of a particularly stubborn zombie. Her own special blue bell flames made quick work of it.

"to have and to hold," Hermione went on, "even when I'm being stubborn over something you think is silly like S.P.E.W. or we're frustrated by the chaos of dark idiots, politicians, and our future children which are bound to attract as much trouble as both of us, even past death, for now until forever."

"I do," Harry declared proudly.

"WITNESSED," Neville shouted. He'd apparently conjured a very large axe and was happily chopping up his opponents. Hermione was pleased to note that her initial observation was right. There were definitely much fewer monsters than there had been at the start. A flick of her wand banished the remains of those that she and the others had disabled or killed and gave everyone much more maneuvering room.

"As we witness, so we seal this bond," Neville intoned in an unearthly voice before reciting the couplet spell that he'd taken months to memorize. Hermione felt her very soul sing as Neville's words began to seal her to Harry.

"THE BEST MAN AND I NOW PRONONOUNCE YOU MAN AND WIFE!" Captain Rush snapped loudly, "KISS THE BRIDE ALREADY!"

The two eagerly obeyed, both instinctively shielding themselves from any potential attackers. Hermione restrained herself from bouncing up and down, dancing with joy, as the bond was completed.

Eventually they came up for air.

"I love you," Hermione giggled and Harry pulled her close.

"I love you too," he replied.

For a brief moment, despite the rain and the wind and the hoard of zombies and monsters, everything was perfect. After all, they were together. They were officially married.

The sound of a roaring beast shattered their perfect moment and the triumphing group of magical men and women looked out into the great ocean to see a horrific creature of nightmares arising from the ocean. It bellowed its rage at the cruise ship and began to move towards them.

Hermione sighed and Harry rolled her eyes. He held out his hand to her and she eagerly grabbed it.

"For now until forever," Harry said with exaggerated cheerfulness.

"For now until forever," Hermione agreed fondly.

With that declaration, the two of them leapt back into battle, with a touch more eagerness and ferocity than they had before.

They had a honeymoon to get to after all and Harry and Hermione Potter weren't going to let anyone or anything stand in the way of that.

=/\=

If it wasn't completely obvious, I was watching Pirates of the Caribbean 3 and was I the only one who could totally see Harry and Hermione in a similar situation? If so before this story, well, now you can see it too.

Please tell me what you think!


	6. Before Halloween

I don't own Harry Potter and also I was feeling a little maudlin

For the couple who's lives were cut short one Halloween

=/\=

He stared.

He did not know how long he had been staring but his entire body felt frozen and numb. He couldn't look away, couldn't, didn't dare, touch it.

The object that had kept him enthralled was a deceptively simple stone bowl. Elegant runes had been etched into the outside of its surface and the inside was filled with what appeared to be silver smoke which swirled and danced within the confines of the bowl, never escaping from whatever invisible barrier kept it all from just floating away.

A hand on his shoulder made him jump.

"Harry," a soft voice said and Harry's gaze broke away from the bowl so he could look up at the new person in the room. He smiled slightly at the lovely woman who'd interrupted his…thought process.

(No, he didn't care what anyone said, he was not the sort that brooded all the time…and Neville's opinion to the contrary _did not count_)

"Hey Hermione," the young man said lightly.

"You know," the clever witch said in a casual voice, "it doesn't really work unless you actually look _into _it."

"I know," Harry replied, "I know, it's just, well, the last time I looked into one of these things, I was convinced that walking off and getting hit by a killing curse would be a good idea."

He felt Hermione's grip on his shoulder tighten involuntarily for a brief moment and heard the shudder in her voice.

"Sirius wouldn't do anything like that to you," Hermione said firmly, "And neither would Remus. They cared about you Harry, far more than that twinkling bastard at least."

Harry remained silent.

"He wouldn't have left you these memories to hurt you," Hermione said, her voice firmer.

"I just," the green eyed wizard started but he stopped, not knowing what to say. He wished that Dumbledore had not hidden away the memories that Sirius had spent much of his captivity carefully extracting and storing as a coming of age present? He wished that he'd spent more time getting to know both Sirius and Remus when he'd had the chance? He wished that Sirius was actually here to show him whatever memories were contained in those wisps of silver?

"Go in with me?" he asked before he realized the words were coming out of his mouth. His best friend moved to sit beside him and looked at him, her brown eyes searching for something.

"Are you sure?" she asked, "This was supposed to be _your_ birthday present. Sirius probably picked memories just for you."

"As much as Sirius would assert otherwise," Harry said wryly, "I don't think he'd have left me a pensieve filled with memories of his favorite porn. Whatever's in there shouldn't offend your delicate sensibilities. And if it does, you have my permission to hex me and I'll still cast a memory charm on you."

Hermione snorted but still looked unsure for a moment longer. Then, he supposed, something in his expression, or perhaps his ability to joke about things rather than (_not_)brooding, caused her to come to a decision.

"At the very least," Hermione said, "this time I'll have a much better warning if you do decide to run off and do something ridiculous like marrying Pansy Parkinson or telling Ron that I'm like a sister to you and encouraging him to try to date me or some such nonsense."

Harry felt his stomach twist and he shook his head to rid it of such awful images before he glared at his best friend.

"Come on," Hermione said with a laugh and the defeater of Voldemort let her tug him towards the pensieve. They exchanged glances once they were hovering over the silver smoke filled bowl.

"Ready?" Hermione asked and Harry smiled depreciatively and shrugged.

Without another word, they pressed their faces into the memories that Sirius had left for Harry.

=/\=

"James, calm down," Harry heard Sirius say and he looked to see Sirius, a young, whole, healthy Sirius laughing at a man that looked remarkably like him.

_My father_ Harry realized as he watched Sirius tug at the bright gold tie around James Potter's neck, mussing the would be neat length of silk even further. James looked like he was a moment away from collapsing, or running. Hermione was there too, looking with wide eyes at the scene before them.

"Here," and a young Remus, hair only touched with grey and lines absent from his face though weariness lurked in his eyes, "let me."

"It'll be fine James," Sirius was saying as Remus adjusted the golden tie, "She's crazy about you, everyone knows it."

The young werewolf fixed Sirius's mistakes and soon the tie around James's neck was correctly situated.

"Hey," a new voice came and Harry felt his hackles rise as he saw Peter Pettigrew come in through a door that had been behind Harry, "Come on, we're ready for you guys."

As they followed the quartet through what the recognized as the halls of Hogwarts, Harry's hand found Hermione's.

At the end of the journey they found themselves in the Great Hall. Dozens of candles floated in the air and All of the tables were gone and in their place were pews filled with people. Harry partially recognized a few of them. He could see the Longbottoms and younger versions of people he'd seen in the picture of the old Order. He saw a few faces that he distantly remembered seeing in the mirror of erised so long ago.

He and Hermione slipped next to Sirius just as the wedding march began to fill the air. Harry watched for a moment as his father tugged at the tie around his neck before the man-who-conquered turned his gaze towards the aisle.

Two brunette women Harry didn't recognize walked down the aisle. Both wore deep royal purple sleeveless dresses with tight bodices and pencil skirts and both were smiling with glee and both carried what appeared to be bouquets of purple and gold butterflies. Harry wouldn't have been surprised if they'd started to skip they seemed so happy. The slimmer of the two wore a little matching pillbox hat with a spray of baby's breathe and she wore golden heels that made her just inch over her companion. The other had glasses, a much curvier figure and wore shoes that were such a dark shade of purple that they were almost black and golden silver stars decorated the toes. Wherever they stepped, flowers sprung up behind them, leaving an entire flower bed of wildflowers behind them.

When the two reached the head of the aisle, the taller woman broke tradition slightly by deviating towards the groomsmen and she slipped a jingling bag to Remus who smirked and tucked it away. The woman with stars winked broadly at the groomsmen and Harry almost laughed as Peter and Remus both turned red.

And there was his mother. She wore a little white pillbox hat with a tiny homage to a veil attached. It wasn't even long enough to completely cover her hair, much less her face. Harry could see complete joy shining in her eyes, his eyes, and the brightest smile he'd ever seen on anyone's face. Her dress was a simple, sleeveless gown of white satin that, rather than trailing out, had a skirt like a bell and ended at her knees where the skirt was trimmed in pearls. She wore little white gloves and carried a trailing bouquet of more purple and gold butterflies. Her shoes were the most eye watering shade of purple he had ever seen and were made even brighter by swirls of rhinestones. The man at her side was tall and thin and had the same bright green eyes as the bride and he appeared to be doing his very best not to cry.

Harry watched as his mother and her father reached the end of the aisle and he almost laughed as Lily Evans practically bounced in front of her soon to be husband. He heard as his father did laugh and Lily quickly passed her bouquet to her mystery bridesmaids so she could take her husband to be's hands.

"Dearly beloved," began the man who was officiating the ceremony. Like most of the crowd, Harry didn't recognize him, "we are gathered here today to witness and celebrate the decision of two souls to unite together eternally on their journey through life and beyond. This is not a decision that has been made lightly, as I can testify for I have counseled this young couple and have tested them and, though they are you, I have found their love to be among the truest and purest that I have ever met. But though love it the strongest, purest magic that we are able to encounter, sometimes not even it is enough. I encourage you now to remember to be patient with one another, to think before you think to speak unkind words, and to always keep in mind those things about the other which made you choose to come before us now and pledge yourselves to each other."

The entire hall was silent for a moment as the officiator let these words sink in. Harry felt Hermione squeeze his hand and he spared a moment to smile at her before his gaze returned to his parents.

"Do not strive to overwhelm one another," the officiator continued, "for though you are bound together this day, you remain two, separate people, each with your own strengths and your own weaknesses. I encourage you to strive to help one another in your weakness and to encourage one another in your strengths."

Again the officiator paused for a moment to allow the words to sink in.

"The bride and groom have elected to write their own vows," the officiator announced, "Lily?"

Lily was bouncing on the balls of her feet and her smile somehow managed to grow even brighter as she was given her cue.

"James Potter, when I first met you I thought you were the biggest prat in the world," Lily announced happily and Harry and Hermione both laughed along with the audience at Lily's declaration.

"And I am so glad that I was proven wrong," Lily went on, "you are kind, thoughtful, creative, forgiving, brave, and everything I'd ever hoped to have in a husband. You encourage me and you make me look at things in a different way and because of you I have grown and have become a better person. So I, Lily Marie Evans, swear on my life and my magic, to love you, to be faithful, to cherish you, and to always strive to be the woman you deserve for now and forever. While I may at times get angry with you when you act like the arrogant prat I once met, I will still love you. When you try sneaking our future children up on your broom before they can even lift their own heads, I will still love you even if I'll probably want to wring your neck. When you and Sirius get drunk at ridiculous hours of the morning, when you get so involved with your latest project that you forget to do anything but work on it, when you do any of the hundreds of little things that might annoy me or the thousands of little things that made me fall for you you in the first place, I will love you. Your enemies are my enemies, your friends my friends, my wand yours. In sickness and in health, for richer or poorer, you are stuck with me."

As she spoke, the officiator wrapped one end of a golden ribbon around one of Lily's wrists and looped the other end around James' wrist.

"When I first saw you I thought you were the prettiest girl ever born," James Potter confessed, "and I have yet to meet anyone who has made me think otherwise and until we have a daughter, I don't think I ever will meet anyone like that. You are smart, kind even to those who don't deserve it, brave, stubborn and absolutely amazing and I'm the luckiest man in the world because you said yes. And I, James Horatio Potter, swear on my life and my magic to love you, to be faithful, to cherish you and to strive to be a man who is worthy of you from now until forever. When you start babbling about potions theory or when you're trying to hex me for whatever reason, even if you want to invite Snape over for dinner someday, in the very, very distant future, when you do any of the thousands of little things I love about you or do any of those little things that annoy me to no ends, I'll still love you. Your enemies are my enemies, your friends my friends, my wand yours. In sickness and in health, for richer or poorer, for forever and a day, you are stuck with me Lily."

Harry noted that Hermione was openly crying as his parents made their vows and he absently handed her a handkerchief.

"Thank you," Hermione whispered as the officiator began to speak again, "I'm afraid I always get a bit teary at weddings. Can't imagine how I'll be able to handle my own. I'll probably end up making everyone think I don't want to be married I'll be crying so much."

The man who conquered was briefly struck by a vision of Hermione in a wedding dress and he struggled not to blush.

"I'm sure you'll be fine," he said rather awkwardly instead.

"…you may now kiss the bride," the officiator was saying as they brought their attention back to the memory and Harry smiled as his mother practically jumped into his father's arms as they indulged in their first kiss as a married couple. The two bridesmaids threw their bouquets in the air and the butterflies all broke free from whatever had been holding them. For a moment they swirled around the newlyweds before they broke into smaller groups and flittered around the Great Hall, either finding new purchase on other things, including one woman's flower bedecked hat, or escaping through the now open windows. The entire crowd stood to cheer on the young Mr. and Mrs. Potter, including Harry and Hermione. Though they knew that Lily and James couldn't hear them, both felt it appropriate to cheer for the event.

Amidst the cloud of butterflies and the various fireworks being sent into the air by a few well meaning witches and wizards in the crowd, Lily and James, hand in hand, raced out of the Great Hall onto their next adventure together. Harry paused for just a moment, staring after where his parents walked and then he turned to Hermione.

"I think that's enough for now," he said softly and his best friend nodded, a gentle smile on her face, and hand in hand they left the memory and returned to the present world.

=/\=

Okay, yeah, I couldn't resist a dash of harmony as well as the Lily/James wedding

I hope you guys enjoyed this! Happy Halloween!


	7. Legalities

Okay, this goes into a little more background detail than I'd intended but what's a series of marriage stories without at least one marriage law ficlet?

=/\=

"Please Merlin or whoever, let something stop this," whispered a young man with hair a shade of red that was infamous in his community. Everywhere he went, that shade of red proclaimed him as a Weasley. And everyone, at least anyone he ever associated with, knew what a Weasley was. A Weasley was brave, the epitome of a Gryffindor, pillars of the community, and above all a pureblood family that had always striven to support the forces of the Light.

"Stop what Ron?" a voice broke into the young man's musings. He turned to look at the man who was a mirror of what he would likely become in another thirty years.

"Nothing dad," Ron grinned weakly and his father smiled back.

"Nervous son?" Arthur, the Weasley patriarch, asked his youngest boy, "I know that you and Hermione had a bit of a rough spot before all of these marriage mandates from the ministry were created, but you still love her, right?"

Ron blanched.

Ah, the marriage mandate, the Ministry of Magic's response to the Department of Mystery's announcement that within the next generation, squib births would be at an all-time high due to inbreeding practices and that Something Needed To Be Done. The Ministry had then decided that the Something had to be one of the stupidest actions they could take since electing Fudge. Ron repressed a scowl at the mention of that bloody set of laws and restrictions that essentially boiled down to the fact that within the wizarding enclaves of the United Kingdom it was illegal for half-bloods and muggle borns to marry unless their intended spouse was a pureblood and that all immigrants would be immediately subject to the law. If a muggle born or a half-blood wanted to marry someone who wasn't of pure blood then they could, it just wouldn't be recognized by the Ministry of Magic. A marriage that didn't follow the Ministry's new "guidelines" would be treated as if it was a union between a magical person and a muggle. And it was a long established law that the Ministry had the legal right to oblivate whoever they judged to be the lesser spouse at any given time if they were deemed a danger to the magical world. For example, in a half-blood and muggle born union, the muggle born could be oblivated the instant they were deemed a danger. And with the marriage mandates approved, "danger" had taken up a very different definition.

There were rumors that some of the oblivators were jumping the gun and not even waiting for a wedding before they went to work on couple that didn't follow the Ministry's preferences. There were even more rumors of couples, muggle born tourists from America or France or from somewhere else, who arrived in England for one reason or another and then found themselves without any recollection of a significant other, a newly minted declaration of British citizenship in their pockets, a pureblood waiting in the wings with a ring, and a Ministry Overseer prepared to bind the pair with the strongest marriage magics the Ministry had been able to dig up. Furthermore, certain matches had been "encouraged", all to promote the Ministry agenda, namely, to save the pureblood culture and the families. All of it was, of course, for the "Greater Good".

"Of course I still love her," Ron replied when he realized that the silence between him and his father had perhaps gone on a bit too long. The older wizard smiled again.

"I'm glad son," Arthur said genially, "it took your mother and I a lot of time to get this together. Anyway, it's all for the best, couldn't let someone like Malfoy get their hands on our Hermione and it's not as though you two wouldn't have tied the knot at some point."

Ron clenched his fists as he looked away from his father, not wanting to talk about the situation anymore lest he said something that he would regret. It wasn't as though he had lied. He _did_ love Hermione. He had known her since they were eleven and had been through a lot with her after all. She was his friend. Not his best friend, but they'd been friends for more than a decade so she was certainly one of his oldest friends.

But he wasn't _in_ love with her and quite frankly he would rather go back in time and force his younger self to be sorted into Slytherin if it meant he wouldn't have to marry Hermione.

The fiery start of their relationship during the war had become an inferno that had made them both utterly miserable and nearly burned them both alive. He had let his jealousy of Hermione's fame because of her exploits and loyalty get to him. He was famous too but generally people just considered him a Weasley. A Weasley fighting on the side of Light wasn't all that unique after all.

While he was just a member of his family, _Hermione_ was hailed as the cleverest witch of the generation, the gold standard among muggle borns and witches in general, "The Witch Who Was With Him". Him, of course, being Harry Potter, savior of the wizarding world several times over. Then there were the bitter feelings and frustration on both sides that had started when she hadn't conformed to his ideas of a relationship and he hadn't conformed to her ideas. What had probably been the worst had been the anger when they both entered auror training together and she proved to be able to beat him during every single bout they had against each other and outshined him, and everyone except Harry, in every area of training.

He was used to her doing better than him in theoretical matters and paperwork. After seven years of being her friend he thought it was pretty much a given that if it had anything to do with paper, Hermione was better than him. But he had always been able to reassure himself that he could beat her or at least equal in the practical matters. When he found out that she'd been going to _Harry _to practice against, he'd felt betrayed. Why hadn't she come to him for help? Why did she always go to Harry? This, added to the fact that he wasn't her equal in the field had angered him and then came the insecurity, that damned insecurity. It was because of his insecurity that he left the auror program. Why would he continue to be an auror when he'd be held up against people like Harry and Hermione and be found wanting? Why do that when he could shine on his own somewhere else? And shine he did when he managed to land a place with the Chudley Cannons. But being "just" a quidditch player, well, that had disappointed Hermione. She'd gone on and on about long term opportunities and then just a bunch of things he didn't listen to. Hermione hardly knew what she was on about. She hated quidditch. She didn't like anything to do with sports unless it was watching Harry play and making sure he didn't break his neck.

Ron ground his teeth and glared at the wall in front of him and its cheery Gryffindor red wall paper before he forced himself to relax and ignore the anger from the old argument. So what if he had never finished his auror training? Who cared that he never finished that last year of Hogwarts? He was a quidditch player. He never needed to remember any of the detective stuff aurors had to know and what real use was the seventh year anyway? He took NEWTs for her and got three, wasn't that enough? Being the Chudley Cannons keeper was a good career. When he couldn't play anymore he had a real shot at being the next coach. She was really a bit of a hypocrite about the whole thing. She hadn't stuck in the program either. Hermione had only lasted a year as an auror before she jumped into the world of curse breaking and Academia. While she was stuck with books, he got to travel all over the world and he was doing what he loved. Even better, nowadays when people heard the name _Ron Weasley_ they no longer thought of him as part of a greater whole. He wasn't just one third of the Golden Trio or one of the many Weasleys. He was known far and wide as the one and only Chudley Cannons keeper and captain. Hermione and her little projects were only important to other egg heads like herself. Who was she to tell him that he wasn't living up to his full potential when she was the one who was burying herself in boring old books and just following the same patterns she'd set in school?

Besides, even if they hadn't argued about their respective career and education choices, now that he had more than a few years between him and the end of the relationship he could see that she had felt constrained and miserable by his idea of what a relationship should be and he rather suspected that he bored her.

If he was being honest, more often than not, he thought she could be unbelievably boring too, when she wasn't being brilliant or scary. Unfortunately for both of them, the scary and boring parts of her usually overshadowed her moments of brilliance and fun, at least in his eyes. She never wanted to go out and do anything the way he did and the few times she did join him for a night on the town he was kept busy chasing away wizards who kept trying to chat her up. A few times she'd tried to drag him to the muggle side but every time he always ended doing something he could later admit, to himself, was stupid and then get embarrassed and they'd both go home angry. It was worse when he had to chase away muggle men the few times she'd persuaded him to go somewhere muggle. After a few tries more, she gave up dragging him into the muggle world, which he was grateful for. He truly didn't like the stupid muggle world.

When he wasn't chasing away other men, they had nothing they could really talk about unless Harry was there to bridge the gap. She had no interest in quidditch and he couldn't, and didn't want to, understand even half of the things she talked about. When she had managed to get a position as an apprenticeship with some America professor, Dr. Henry Jones Jr., who was some authority in some boring field of study, they had the fight that had led to the permanent destruction of their romantic liaison. He had not wanted to deal with the stress of a relationship that was long distance on both sides. To him, it was one thing when Hermione was based in one place while he was running around all over the world. They would never have to worry about coordinating times to meet between matches and training sessions. But if Hermione was going to be tramping all around the world chasing after some scrap of paper or bargaining for some silly muggle trinket for a museum then he knew that it would be almost impossible for them to spend real time together and he'd never been one for writing letters. When they were together, he was hard pressed to describe her as anything other than a complete prude, never wanting to go beyond kissing and some light petting. He'd gotten further with Lavender in a month and, since his breakup, even further than that with a string of girlfriends.

She had called him out for his so called hypocrisy. He had only tried to defend himself. To this day, three years later, he couldn't recall who had thrown the first spell but, in the short run, it had resulted in her having to stay in St. Mungo's for a few hours while he had to stay in the ward for spell damage for the better part of a week. In the long run it had not only cost them their romantic liaison but it had nearly destroyed their friendship. The end of their romance end had also seriously damaged all of their other friendships as well, especially their friendship with Harry. He felt a pang of guilt over the way he acted in the aftermath of the break up, assuming that Harry would be on his side as he always was, trying to gather all of his friends around him, to be on his side, and forgetting that his friends were also Hermione's.

For once Harry had not taken his side and Ginny had walloped him a few times. Because of that, and an incident with Harry that Ron refused to think about, the youngest Weasley male eventually made peace with the situation and peace with Hermione. They were even on their way to being friends again, or at least they had been.

Then the Ministry's STUPID law had come into play and of course the names of the Golden Trio were at the very top of the Ministry Matchmakers' lists to ensure that proper spouses were chosen for the Savior and his friends.

Ron growled slightly as he recalled how Harry had still managed to evade the Ministry's matchmaking schemes. Harry was the Savior after all as well as being Lord Black, Lord Potter, the top auror of the DMLE and on the fast track to join the International Magic Protectorate. It made him the absolute first on the list of eligible bachelors.

But Harry Potter also didn't have meddling parents trying to match him for his own good. He had resources, like money, a Reputation, and the power and skill to back that reputation. He was also bloody terrifying if you mentioned anything to do with the Ministry and their ridiculous marriage decrees. When the mandates had been in the works he had threatened to quit if the Ministry actually went through with their stupid idea. Two reporters and a Ministry Matchmaker had peed themselves in public when they'd tried to question Harry about the Ministry's decision and question him as to which lucky pureblood princess would be the new Lady Potter. Popular opinion was that Ginny would be that "lucky" pureblood princess but, to Ron's annoyance, the brat had eloped with a muggle born journalist while on tour with the Holyhead Harpies and had not stepped foot in England since her elopement. When she was interviewed his sister had announced that she also didn't have any intention of returning to England until the ridiculous laws were repealed.

Two more Ministry Matchmakers had attempted to force the issue match Harry to some other "appropriate" woman. They had been left gibbering messes and were still sharing a ward with Lockhart. After that Harry had made good on his threat and had quit the DMLE. No one had seen him since, though the Ministry was looking and the Quibbler ran regular articles named "The Potter Patrol".

But while Harry didn't really have to worry about meddling parents or anyone else attempting to manipulate him and force him to get married, Ron had to contend with a grandchild demanding Molly Weasley and the Ministry. While Harry ad managed a clean get away, Hermione had not been able to do the same. Ron wasn't sure what the deal was, but something kept Hermione from disappearing as thoroughly as Harry. His mum was all for he and Hermione to get back together even if it meant agreeing with the farce of a law and the Ministry had decided that if they couldn't match Harry then his friends would be close enough.

Ron had very nearly broken into the Department of Mysteries in order to steal a time turner so he could go back and change things, or at least wallop someone and make himself feel better but had restrained himself while he looked into other solutions. He'd gotten all of the purebloods from the old DA aside and went through each of them. None of them could take Hermione off of his hands. Some had disappeared, most had already married and one had voluntarily had himself magically castrated just so the Ministry couldn't force him into anything.

When the DA had failed he tried his brothers but all of them, except for Charlie, were already married and Charlie had not returned to the Burrow, or England, since hearing of the laws. He had also refused to marry Hermione. Hermione herself had refused to marry Charlie and had not stopped sifting through the laws and regulations that the Ministry had passed, becoming more and more wraithlike with every passing day, as she sought some sort of exploitable loophole.

But no matter what sort of measures Hermione had come up with and despite the fact that he had ensured that he wouldn't be in England any more than absolutely necessary in order to delay things, the date was set, the match was made. The entire wedding was at the Ministry's expense and for once there seemed to be no end to the amount the Ministry was willing to spend. Ron supposed that this was likely going to be one of the more important matches that the Ministry had arranged, especially if they couldn't pin Harry down, so the Ministry wanted to make a big show of the farce.

A knock at the door startled Ron out of his thoughts. He turned and saw Percy popping his head into the room.

"Come on Ron," his still rather prim brother exclaimed, "time to get to the altar! Don't want to keep the bride waiting!"

Ron felt a wave of nausea was over him.

"Right," he muttered, "don't want to keep her waiting."

If ever questioned, Ron Weasley could honestly say that he had no idea as to what happened between the time that Percy fetched him from the dressing room and the time that the bride came down the aisle. He made no note of the people around him, didn't care about anything that was going on. All of his attention was given to praying to any and every benevolent deity and historical figure that he could think of, hoping that someone or something Up There would give him a break and something would happen to prevent the marriage. Even if it meant being struck by lightning or You-Know-Who returned from the dead, he'd take it.

The wedding march began and Ron looked up with dread to see Hermione walking down the aisle. Unlike with Fleur's marriage to Bill, Molly had been eager to allow Hermione to wear the Weasley dress, the bridal gown that Weasley brides had worn for centuries, the gown that Molly herself had worn. As Hermione walked down the aisle even he could tell that the heavy fabric and ancient design wasn't really the best for Hermione's figure. In fact, it made her look dumpy. The long, thick veil that she wore with the gown obscured her head to the point that if she wasn't wearing Aunt Muriel's goblin made tiara she would look headless. Ron shivered. He thought she looked rather like a faceless statue from a cemetery. He wondered if it was better or worse that he wouldn't see her face until the ceremony was finished and they were bound.

The Ministry Overseer cleared his throat as Hermione took her place parallel to Ron and he whimpered.

The Ministry Overseer began his speech but it fell on deaf ears. Ron couldn't even pretend to listen. All he could do was stare at the shade of death that was Hermione. His mind was a complete blank.

"I now pronounce you wed," the Ministry Overseer finished pompously, "by the laws of our people, you are bound for the rest of your days."

They were rushed away to the reception before Ron knew what had happened. He felt his stomach actually rebel at the idea of food. This was it. They would be seated and, as was traditional, he would present Hermione with her first meal as a married woman and remove her veil, revealing the latest Mrs. Weasley to the world, cementing the ancient magics in place.

"Go on Ronald," his mother hissed beside him, alerting him to the fact that he was at the table and Hermione was already sitting beside his place.

"Wha," he broke out of his thoughts for a moment before another crossed his mind. He seemed to be doing a lot more thinking than he usually indulged in. He wondered if Hermione had finally rubbed off on him.

"Fill the plate, remove the veil," Molly Weasley demanded of her son. Ron winced and looked over the crowd. Some of his training still remained with him. He spotted one of the Ministry oblivators, ready and waiting and several of the darker pureblood families had sent representatives, uninvited representatives. He scowled at them and began to fill the plate with the dishes his mother had prepared. He shoved the dish towards Hermione and his friend lifted the veil just enough so she could eat a sample of everything he'd given her. She then pushed the plate back to him. He choked down something without looking at it.

"Remove the veil!" his mother hissed at him again and Ron took a deep breath and reached for the veil that his Hermione from him and the rest of the crowd. Now was the moment of truth, now he would have to present Hermione Weasley to everyone.

He pulled the veil away and gaped. He didn't see deep brown eyes alive with intelligence and anger. He didn't see wild curls still pinned beneath the rest of the headdress of the wedding costume. He didn't see Hermione.

The girl he had just married was blonde and honey skinned. Her eyes were brown but had more mischief in them than he'd ever seen in Hermione's eyes. Best of all, he knew this girl, he knew her and right now, she was the most beautiful person he'd ever seen. In the back of his mind he acknowledged the fact that his mother was screaming at someone and the crowd was panicking or something. But, if he was at all honest, at the moment he really couldn't care less. He hadn't married Hermione! Even better, he hadn't married Hermione and he had married someone he could actually live with!

"Lavender," Ron breathed with relief. She smiled at him.

"Hermione actually," Lavender giggled, "changed my name for the ceremony. Legally and in the eyes of magic, I'm Hermione Weasley."

Ron considered this.

"I'm still going to call you Lavender," he said at last.

"Good," Lavender Hermione replied, a wry smile on her lips.

"But you aren't a muggle born!" Ron said and without another thought he pushed Lavender slightly behind him, away from the twittering crowd and out of immediate wand sight of the oblivator.

"Half blood," Lavender assured him, "never made it very public since I was raised by my father's family, but my mother was a muggle. The law can't touch us."

"How?" Ron asked, still gently pushing his new wife away from the increasing chaos as several people made noise about creating a party to hunt down the "real" bride.

"I swore an oath not to tell," Lavender answered the unasked question, "now, I believe we have a honeymoon to get to Mr. Weasley?"

Lavender took her new husband's arm and tucked it against her side. His smile grew a little shyer and he tried to fight the blush that was coloring his face.

"Indeed we do Mrs. Weasley," Ron replied as gallantly as he could manage. Lavender giggled again and together they left to start their new lives together.

=/\=

And there you have it, Lavender and Ron Weasley, hope you enjoyed it and Happy Halloween!


End file.
